The present invention relates to a method for making available measuring data of an apparatus for processing value documents of predetermined different processing types, and a value-document processing apparatus for carrying out the method. Preferably, the measuring data made available can be usable for adapting parameters of the apparatus.
Value documents are understood in this connection to be sheet-shaped objects that represent for example a monetary value and hence should not be producible arbitrarily by unauthorized persons. Hence, they have features that are not easily produced, in particular copied, whose presence is an indication of authenticity, i.e. production by an authorized body. Important examples for such value documents are vouchers, checks and in particular banknotes.
Value-document processing apparatus, in particular banknote processing apparatus, classify value documents, in particular banknotes, with regard to the value document type, in the case of banknotes the currency and/or the value, and/or the authenticity and/or the quality and/or the orientation. The orientation of a value document is understood hereinafter to mean in a rectangular value document any of the four possible positions which can be obtained by rotations of the value documents about its longitudinal axis and transverse axis by 180° in each case. The quality of a value document is understood to mean in particular its state; in banknotes, the state can be given in particular by classes such as “fit for circulation” and/or “unfit for circulation” and/or “damaged” or “damaged” in connection with the type of the damage. In dependence on the classification, the value documents can then for example be sorted and possibly be deposited in corresponding output areas. This is explained using the example of value documents in the form of banknotes.
The classification is effected on the basis of different physical properties of the individual, i.e. respectively processed, banknote. Examples for such physical properties are optical properties, in particular color properties, magnetic properties or ultrasound properties.
During the processing of banknotes in banknote processing apparatus, measuring data are produced by means of sensors on the basis of different physical properties of the individual, i.e. respectively processed, banknote, which measuring data are employed for the classification. Measuring data are understood hereinafter to mean generally raw data formed by a sensor, which raw data are unprocessed apart from processing operations in the sensor and/or corrections, in particular also with reference to calibration, elimination of noise or background components. Additionally, the measuring data can also comprise properties of the banknotes computed in real time from the measuring data, for example average values or other statistical properties at least of a part of the measuring data.
The measuring data delivered by the sensors are evaluated in a connected evaluation device. In this evaluation, banknote features characterizing the banknote type, the authenticity and the quality of the banknote, are determined by suitable evaluation methods. In dependence on the determined banknote features a classification result is computed by the evaluation device, the classification result subsequently determining in which output pocket of the banknote processing apparatus the banknote is to be deposited.
The evaluation methods and the ascertainment of the classification result must be adapted to the type of banknotes to be processed and also to the requirements of the operators of banknote processing apparatus. For this purpose, the evaluation device, preferably an evaluation program running therein, is parameterizable, i.e. classification parameters are present the values of which can be predetermined and which are employed in the evaluation and classification and/or the ascertainment of the classification result; this adaptation of the classification parameter values, also referred to as adaptation of the classification parameters, will hereinafter be referred to as adaption.
In order to ascertain appropriate classification parameters, generally the measuring data of corresponding, suitably predetermined banknotes are employed for the adaptation of classification parameters. More exactly, in a first step, in a recording of measuring data for the predetermined banknotes with the banknote processing apparatus, corresponding measuring data are captured and stored. These measuring data are then utilized in a second step to ascertain the classification parameter values.
In order to make possible a good parameterization, upon recording measuring data, measuring data are frequently captured for a larger number of banknotes which differ with regard to different processing properties, for example their type, in particular currency and/or value, their quality or state, their authenticity and/or the orientation in which they are transported past the sensors in the value-document processing apparatus.
For the subsequent ascertainment of parameters it is then required that the measuring data for the different processing properties can be accessed in targeted fashion. The measuring data thus must be stored in correspondingly different data structures, e.g. files. Additionally, the information must be available for which banknote the measuring data were ascertained.
However, when larger numbers of banknotes are involved, the capturing of measuring data can be made difficult for example by modern optical sensors capturing images at a high resolution, for the transmission and storage of which high data transmission speeds are required. However, such data transmission speeds are required during normal operation only between the sensors and the evaluation device.